Since our last update (April 28), we have seen some important developments regarding Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions. In the past week, we have seen legislators take up new resolutions for a vote, address the controversial issue of the California Clean Air Act waivers, and send new resolutions to the president to be signed into law. Things seem to be accelerating in Congress (and especially in the Senate), as legislators are approaching the CRA cutoff date.
The first — and arguably, most consequential — issue is the votes on the California waivers (H.J.Res.87, H.J.Res.88, and H.J.Res.89). In our previous update, we explained in detail why these waivers are so consequential for California, but also for reducing emissions in the transportation sector beyond the state. Until last Thursday, it was unclear the level of support these resolutions would have on the House floor. Predictably, these resolutions enjoyed wide Republican support, and surprisingly, they enjoyed some strong endorsement from several Democratic lawmakers.
These CRA resolutions will now move to the Senate, where Republican lawmakers have been debating their willingness to move ahead with the vote in light of the Senate Parliamentarian’s ruling that these waivers are not subject to CRA proceedings. While leadership has not yet made a final decision, they currently appear to be leaning in favor of ignoring the Parliamentarian.
This development sets a worrying precedent given the ongoing budget reconciliation negotiations. Although Republican leaders in the Senate have said that they were not willing to overrule the Parliamentarian’s opinion in order to push the limits of the budget reconciliation process, their leanings on the California waivers may suggest that they are now considering crossing that bridge. Doing so would significantly weaken current Senate filibuster rules, if not obliterate them altogether.
Other developments
Additionally, there are two CRA resolutions that are now one step closer to becoming law. On February 5, two resolutions targeting energy conservation rules from the Department of Energy were sent to the president and are waiting for his signature. These resolutions are H.J.Res.20 (“Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-fired Instantaneous Water Heaters”) and H.J.Res.24 (“Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Walk-In Coolers and Walk-In Freezers”) and are part of the wider efforts to undo energy and climate rules developed during the previous administration.
There are four more resolutions that have cleared both chambers but have not yet been sent to the president, with the Senate having voted on two of these on May 1. Those two resolutions, much like the ones sent to the president last week, target energy conservation rules developed by the Department of Energy.
Additionally, there are eight resolutions that have only cleared one chamber, and none of those have been placed on the legislative calendar in the second chamber. Four others have been placed on the legislative calendar but have not yet received any votes. Senate leadership is quickly running out of time to schedule additional votes on these and any other resolutions because the expedited procedures window is likely to close by this Thursday, May 8.